Too early to panic over offensive struggles

Posted by Stephen Gross | March 05, 2014 at 12:36 PM

Opening Day is right around the corner.

In fact, we're about three and a half weeks away from the Phillies traveling to Texas for the first game of the season. Even though the regular season is rapidly approaching, it's still too early to get overly worried - or over excited for that matter - about pretty much anything we're seeing in spring training to date.

As far as the Phillies go, their offensive output should be at the top of the list of things not to get too worried about.

Yes, a team batting average of .194 after seven games is a little alarming, especially when it's good enough for the worst team average in baseball right now by a comfortable margin. But remember, it's only March 5.

Want something to help put your mind at ease? The team that has the second worst batting average this spring is just a little over four months removed from winning the World Series. That's right. The Boston Red Sox are only hitting .228 as a team.

You hear every spring that pitchers have been in camp longer than the position players so it's common that hitters have some catching up to do at this point. That certainly could be part of it. But the 216 at-bats the Phillies have as a team are way too small of a sample size to predict how the offense will fare in the 2014 season. Some of those at-bats were taken by guys that might not even be on the roster come March 31.

If we're having the same conversation come April and May, you will have every reason to fret. For now though, relax and enjoy that baseball is back.